Update #3 - Friday morning part one
Update #3 – Friday morning…
To begin, I made it through day one. Thus, I will play again on Sunday and I will have a stack of $49,850 against an average stack of $30,000. Life is good…
For readers in Saskatchewan, I will be on the Drew Remenda Sports Show tonight at 7:30 talking poker.
Tournament preamble
Yesterday, I got up at 7:00 AM local time after a good night’s sleep. Headed to the Rio’s spa for a 30 minute run on the treadmill (running outside is out of the question). After the run I went for breakfast, read USA Today, and relaxed. About 30 minutes before the tournament I “kilted up†and headed to the tournament area. I go there just five minutes before the scheduled start time. Amazingly, they almost started on time. We started 13 minutes late.
The tournament did start at 11:00 AM. On guy at our table was burned. He, like me, registered REALLY early. So his card, like mine, listed a noon start time. He showed up about twenty after eleven. The tournament staff reimbursed his two lost blinds of $75.
In the tournament room the spectators line every single wall and aisle. The tournament room is HUGE. It holds 200 tables divided into four sections by roped off aisles. It is packed. Fortunately, there is lost of room within the roped area. So, if you are playing, you can stand up and move around easily which is something I do A LOT. I am amazed that more people don’t. In the end, we played almost 15 ½ hours. That is a LONG time to remain sitting in the same chair.
Just before the tournament started I met Lou “Magithighs†Gazzola from PokerForum.ca. Lou won his way in through poker stars and he is seated at the next table.
The mood is festive. Jubilant, in fact.
I don’t recognize any of the players at my table at first. Eventually I realize that Ted Lawson is to my right. I know the name, but that’s about it. Later I discovered that he won last year’s Pot Limit Omaha event and it was televised. Also at my table is Erik Mizrachi who is the twin brother of Micheal “The Grinder†Mizrachi. Greg Raymer (last year’s winner) is seated two tables away. He is a very accommodating guy – signing autographs, etc. Bad luck for him, he is right against the rope which means that ALL of the fans can get right up against him.
Interestingly, ESPN did NOT pick Greg’s table to be the TV table. They selected Jennifer Harmon’s table (a well known, attractive, HIGH limit professional player). I guess ESPN figures that she is more popular with the male viewing audience than Greg Raymer.
The tournament
With apologies to those readers who are NOT poker nerds, there is A LOT of poker content coming up. If you want to skip the poker content, just read the paragraphs that have “****†at the beginning as those paragraphs are of more general interest.
Level One Blinds $25-50 My Stack $10,000
****The first player is eliminated six minutes into the event, just a couple tables away. Didn’t take long.
****I never did see an official head count, but it is right around the 5800 player mark.
HAND #1. About a ½ hour in. Three limpers. I limp on the button with QJ. The BB who is a skilled, action player, makes a raise to 200. All call. My thinking was that he might simply be making the classic “raise a line of limpers†steal. And, with lots of money in the pot and with position I was interested in seeing the flop which was A-K-6 (I had only a gutshot). BB bet 400. All fold to me. I make it 1300 and take down the pot. Good start.
HAND #2. I raise in middle position with A-A. I am called by the same skilled action player behind me. This player is a problem. He is three seats to me left and I think he has a lot of moxy. The flop is K-J-9. I bet, he raises. At this point I figure I am best and he is making a move. I decide to close the deal on the turn so I simply call. The turn is a disastrous ten. I check and call the turn and river and he shows QQ. Bad play. I should NOT have called the river. On that board he MUST be expecting a call which means that he MUST have my aces beat. Oh well, I didn’t lose much and it won’t be my last bad play of the day.
HAND #3: I limp in late with T-9s. I flop a double gut shot. It is checked around. I turn the nuts. There is one bet to me. I raise. He calls. The river completes a back door flush. He checks, I price him in, and he calls with his flush. Oops. Another small loss.
****I started in a hole. These two losses blew off 35% of my starting stack.
****The tournament but in window remained open until the end of level one. Since the window is now closed, it’s strange that there was not a final player number announcement.
Level 2 Blinds $50-100 My stack $6875
HAND #4: In the small blind I have 9-9. Three limpers, I call. Flop is 6-5-2. I bet and get one caller. He is a weak player who will tend to call too much. I have him pegged as someone who will lost ALL of their chips with top pair. So, I am happy with the situation. Unfortunately, I also CANNOT read this player. He ALWAYS double checks his hand, etc. Later in the tournament I saw him play a hand in which his heart was pounding so hard that I could see the front of his shirt LITERALLY jumping off his chest. It was incredible. In this hand though, and in most hands, I could NOT read him. I bet the turn when the 6 pairs. I check the river when K hit. He shows T-T and I lose. Dang. Now I really am in a hole (down to about 5800).
****In a really really annoying twist, there is a LONG and VERY wide hallway that leads from the casino to the convention centre where the WSOP is. Halfway along this hallway in some of the smaller convention rooms there is an event that has LOTS of moms and 12 year old daughters in a dance competition. The result? They have closed this hallway to WSOP players. To get to the casino you are FORCED to go through the WSOP lifestyles show. Now, picture 1800 players and 600 viewers ALL trying to get to a bathroom at the same time, every 1 hour and forty minutes. It is pandemonium. I like to run to my room on the break. In the crowd (it is a long walk) I am able to get to my room, wash my hands, and return to the WSOP, often missing one hand. The crowds are huge. If I have one complaint about the Rio, that’s it: A single bathroom with five stall for 2300 people. Sheesh. It’s a good thing that I run. The charge to and from the room is a good cardio workout.
****At this point in my voice recorder I noted that “Am not in the zone. I am not playing badly, but I am not seeing the game.†Poker is, often, about having clear vision. When I have my “A†game I see things that other miss. For the first two levels, I did not have my “A†game. I wasn’t playing badly, but I wasn’t doing anything, nor was I capable of doing anything, that would give me an edge.
****After losing hand number 4, I did make a couple of small, unimaginative steals to get some chips back.
INTERESTING HAND: I was not in this hand, but it was interesting and it was a first for me. UTG raises, mid position re-raises, button calls, UTG calls. Flop three small. mid position bets and button goes in the tank. He remains in the tank for about five minutes. This player was, always, a slow and methodical player. Occasionally too long, buy overall not. It was, however, noticeable that he would take his time and I have no problem with that. After five minutes I ask “Can anyone call the clock?†The dealer says, “yes†and so I called a clock on him. The floor comes over, explains that this player has one minute. Then counts down from 10, 9, 8… and he folded. Later, I apologized and said I hoped that he was OK about me calling a clock. He was fine with it. First time I have ever called a clock on a player.
****9 minutes left in level 2 when my table loses our first player.
****Everyone at my table were early registrants for the tournament. And, only one of us had won our way in! Wow… Two pros, one internet winner, and seven amateurs with $10K to spare. Interesting.
****At the break, they moved Greg Raymer’s table to the TV table, Jennifer Harman having gone bust.
Level 3 Blinds $100-200 My stack 7625
****Bob’s wife Teri sent Bob with a protein bar for me. I hate protein bars. This one wasn’t bad though and I think this is THE snack to have when playing poker. When I got hungry the bar was like a filet. And, I think that a protein bar is better management of one’s blood sugar than a chocolate bar.
HAND #5: Folded to the SB. I look at him and announce me standard: “No shame in folding.†He says, “That’s for sure.†But, he raises. I call with T-6s. Flop is J-x-x. He checks. I bet. He calls. I have him on a big ace. Turn T. He bets, I raise, he mucks. Whew.
HAND #6: The first breakthrough hand. Late position with QQ I raise. I get a call from a limper on my right. Flop is Q-9-8 two diamonds. I like it… He bets 2000 at the 1200 pot. I considered raising, but I figured him for a diamond draw. And, I have become a big can of “call with position.†So, I call. Turn is a blank. He checks, I bet 4,000, he folds. I showed him my QQ. This player moved on my blinds or on the blinds when in the cutoff a lot and I was trying to keep him primed that I really do have the hand I say I do.
****A woman with a camera is roving around taking photos. I am standing up and she asked if she can take my photo. No problem. I pose between hands. I notice she is from “Bust Magazine†which, based on the name, I think is a new poker magazine. Nope. She explains that it’s a womans magazine from New York. She is basically taking photos of the female player. And, apparently, the only man in a skirt!
Level 4 Blinds $100-200 Ante $25 My stack $9225
****After a rough start I am starting to settle in. I am back in the race AND my “A†game is starting to bubble to the surface.
****Shannon Sharp (NFL player) is playing. I saw him in the elevator. He is big.
****At this break I finally have the light go on. This table does not feature ANYONE that has the re-steal weapon in the tank. So, I decided that I was going to open the throttle a little bit and add some more aggression to my game. I resolved to bet a lot and NOT to call bets because these players bets were, for the most part, very dependable.
HAND #6: UTG limps. I have 8-6s. I am thinking and the player to me left puts in a small raise to $400. What to do? If I call, he is held to his raise. I figure this will freeze the action since the other players will figure me for a big hand looking to re-raise. I limp. He raises to 400. BB calls and UTG limper calls. I call. Flop Q-8-4. I bet and pick up the pot.
HAND #7: AAALLLLAAARRRMMMM. This hand is an unpleasant experience. I am the BB with K-3s. Three limpers. Flop is A-J-2 with two of my suit. I figure that since nobody raised there is a good chance I can take this right now. I bet $500. EP player makes it 1500. Folded to me. I figure I can take him off the hand so I make it $6000. He moves in for 1200 more. Crap. I, of course, call. He rolls over A-A. C’mon hearts! Nope. But, it does go 5-4 for a runner runner double guthshot straight and A-A goes bust. He, well, wasn’t happy. Whereas most people’s bad beat stories will go “OK, so I have A-A and…†This guys bad beat story now starts with “Have you seen that a**hole in a kilt? You have! Listen to this. OK, so I have A-A and…†This was the second player at our table to bust.
To begin, I made it through day one. Thus, I will play again on Sunday and I will have a stack of $49,850 against an average stack of $30,000. Life is good…
For readers in Saskatchewan, I will be on the Drew Remenda Sports Show tonight at 7:30 talking poker.
Tournament preamble
Yesterday, I got up at 7:00 AM local time after a good night’s sleep. Headed to the Rio’s spa for a 30 minute run on the treadmill (running outside is out of the question). After the run I went for breakfast, read USA Today, and relaxed. About 30 minutes before the tournament I “kilted up†and headed to the tournament area. I go there just five minutes before the scheduled start time. Amazingly, they almost started on time. We started 13 minutes late.
The tournament did start at 11:00 AM. On guy at our table was burned. He, like me, registered REALLY early. So his card, like mine, listed a noon start time. He showed up about twenty after eleven. The tournament staff reimbursed his two lost blinds of $75.
In the tournament room the spectators line every single wall and aisle. The tournament room is HUGE. It holds 200 tables divided into four sections by roped off aisles. It is packed. Fortunately, there is lost of room within the roped area. So, if you are playing, you can stand up and move around easily which is something I do A LOT. I am amazed that more people don’t. In the end, we played almost 15 ½ hours. That is a LONG time to remain sitting in the same chair.
Just before the tournament started I met Lou “Magithighs†Gazzola from PokerForum.ca. Lou won his way in through poker stars and he is seated at the next table.
The mood is festive. Jubilant, in fact.
I don’t recognize any of the players at my table at first. Eventually I realize that Ted Lawson is to my right. I know the name, but that’s about it. Later I discovered that he won last year’s Pot Limit Omaha event and it was televised. Also at my table is Erik Mizrachi who is the twin brother of Micheal “The Grinder†Mizrachi. Greg Raymer (last year’s winner) is seated two tables away. He is a very accommodating guy – signing autographs, etc. Bad luck for him, he is right against the rope which means that ALL of the fans can get right up against him.
Interestingly, ESPN did NOT pick Greg’s table to be the TV table. They selected Jennifer Harmon’s table (a well known, attractive, HIGH limit professional player). I guess ESPN figures that she is more popular with the male viewing audience than Greg Raymer.
The tournament
With apologies to those readers who are NOT poker nerds, there is A LOT of poker content coming up. If you want to skip the poker content, just read the paragraphs that have “****†at the beginning as those paragraphs are of more general interest.
Level One Blinds $25-50 My Stack $10,000
****The first player is eliminated six minutes into the event, just a couple tables away. Didn’t take long.
****I never did see an official head count, but it is right around the 5800 player mark.
HAND #1. About a ½ hour in. Three limpers. I limp on the button with QJ. The BB who is a skilled, action player, makes a raise to 200. All call. My thinking was that he might simply be making the classic “raise a line of limpers†steal. And, with lots of money in the pot and with position I was interested in seeing the flop which was A-K-6 (I had only a gutshot). BB bet 400. All fold to me. I make it 1300 and take down the pot. Good start.
HAND #2. I raise in middle position with A-A. I am called by the same skilled action player behind me. This player is a problem. He is three seats to me left and I think he has a lot of moxy. The flop is K-J-9. I bet, he raises. At this point I figure I am best and he is making a move. I decide to close the deal on the turn so I simply call. The turn is a disastrous ten. I check and call the turn and river and he shows QQ. Bad play. I should NOT have called the river. On that board he MUST be expecting a call which means that he MUST have my aces beat. Oh well, I didn’t lose much and it won’t be my last bad play of the day.
HAND #3: I limp in late with T-9s. I flop a double gut shot. It is checked around. I turn the nuts. There is one bet to me. I raise. He calls. The river completes a back door flush. He checks, I price him in, and he calls with his flush. Oops. Another small loss.
****I started in a hole. These two losses blew off 35% of my starting stack.
****The tournament but in window remained open until the end of level one. Since the window is now closed, it’s strange that there was not a final player number announcement.
Level 2 Blinds $50-100 My stack $6875
HAND #4: In the small blind I have 9-9. Three limpers, I call. Flop is 6-5-2. I bet and get one caller. He is a weak player who will tend to call too much. I have him pegged as someone who will lost ALL of their chips with top pair. So, I am happy with the situation. Unfortunately, I also CANNOT read this player. He ALWAYS double checks his hand, etc. Later in the tournament I saw him play a hand in which his heart was pounding so hard that I could see the front of his shirt LITERALLY jumping off his chest. It was incredible. In this hand though, and in most hands, I could NOT read him. I bet the turn when the 6 pairs. I check the river when K hit. He shows T-T and I lose. Dang. Now I really am in a hole (down to about 5800).
****In a really really annoying twist, there is a LONG and VERY wide hallway that leads from the casino to the convention centre where the WSOP is. Halfway along this hallway in some of the smaller convention rooms there is an event that has LOTS of moms and 12 year old daughters in a dance competition. The result? They have closed this hallway to WSOP players. To get to the casino you are FORCED to go through the WSOP lifestyles show. Now, picture 1800 players and 600 viewers ALL trying to get to a bathroom at the same time, every 1 hour and forty minutes. It is pandemonium. I like to run to my room on the break. In the crowd (it is a long walk) I am able to get to my room, wash my hands, and return to the WSOP, often missing one hand. The crowds are huge. If I have one complaint about the Rio, that’s it: A single bathroom with five stall for 2300 people. Sheesh. It’s a good thing that I run. The charge to and from the room is a good cardio workout.
****At this point in my voice recorder I noted that “Am not in the zone. I am not playing badly, but I am not seeing the game.†Poker is, often, about having clear vision. When I have my “A†game I see things that other miss. For the first two levels, I did not have my “A†game. I wasn’t playing badly, but I wasn’t doing anything, nor was I capable of doing anything, that would give me an edge.
****After losing hand number 4, I did make a couple of small, unimaginative steals to get some chips back.
INTERESTING HAND: I was not in this hand, but it was interesting and it was a first for me. UTG raises, mid position re-raises, button calls, UTG calls. Flop three small. mid position bets and button goes in the tank. He remains in the tank for about five minutes. This player was, always, a slow and methodical player. Occasionally too long, buy overall not. It was, however, noticeable that he would take his time and I have no problem with that. After five minutes I ask “Can anyone call the clock?†The dealer says, “yes†and so I called a clock on him. The floor comes over, explains that this player has one minute. Then counts down from 10, 9, 8… and he folded. Later, I apologized and said I hoped that he was OK about me calling a clock. He was fine with it. First time I have ever called a clock on a player.
****9 minutes left in level 2 when my table loses our first player.
****Everyone at my table were early registrants for the tournament. And, only one of us had won our way in! Wow… Two pros, one internet winner, and seven amateurs with $10K to spare. Interesting.
****At the break, they moved Greg Raymer’s table to the TV table, Jennifer Harman having gone bust.
Level 3 Blinds $100-200 My stack 7625
****Bob’s wife Teri sent Bob with a protein bar for me. I hate protein bars. This one wasn’t bad though and I think this is THE snack to have when playing poker. When I got hungry the bar was like a filet. And, I think that a protein bar is better management of one’s blood sugar than a chocolate bar.
HAND #5: Folded to the SB. I look at him and announce me standard: “No shame in folding.†He says, “That’s for sure.†But, he raises. I call with T-6s. Flop is J-x-x. He checks. I bet. He calls. I have him on a big ace. Turn T. He bets, I raise, he mucks. Whew.
HAND #6: The first breakthrough hand. Late position with QQ I raise. I get a call from a limper on my right. Flop is Q-9-8 two diamonds. I like it… He bets 2000 at the 1200 pot. I considered raising, but I figured him for a diamond draw. And, I have become a big can of “call with position.†So, I call. Turn is a blank. He checks, I bet 4,000, he folds. I showed him my QQ. This player moved on my blinds or on the blinds when in the cutoff a lot and I was trying to keep him primed that I really do have the hand I say I do.
****A woman with a camera is roving around taking photos. I am standing up and she asked if she can take my photo. No problem. I pose between hands. I notice she is from “Bust Magazine†which, based on the name, I think is a new poker magazine. Nope. She explains that it’s a womans magazine from New York. She is basically taking photos of the female player. And, apparently, the only man in a skirt!
Level 4 Blinds $100-200 Ante $25 My stack $9225
****After a rough start I am starting to settle in. I am back in the race AND my “A†game is starting to bubble to the surface.
****Shannon Sharp (NFL player) is playing. I saw him in the elevator. He is big.
****At this break I finally have the light go on. This table does not feature ANYONE that has the re-steal weapon in the tank. So, I decided that I was going to open the throttle a little bit and add some more aggression to my game. I resolved to bet a lot and NOT to call bets because these players bets were, for the most part, very dependable.
HAND #6: UTG limps. I have 8-6s. I am thinking and the player to me left puts in a small raise to $400. What to do? If I call, he is held to his raise. I figure this will freeze the action since the other players will figure me for a big hand looking to re-raise. I limp. He raises to 400. BB calls and UTG limper calls. I call. Flop Q-8-4. I bet and pick up the pot.
HAND #7: AAALLLLAAARRRMMMM. This hand is an unpleasant experience. I am the BB with K-3s. Three limpers. Flop is A-J-2 with two of my suit. I figure that since nobody raised there is a good chance I can take this right now. I bet $500. EP player makes it 1500. Folded to me. I figure I can take him off the hand so I make it $6000. He moves in for 1200 more. Crap. I, of course, call. He rolls over A-A. C’mon hearts! Nope. But, it does go 5-4 for a runner runner double guthshot straight and A-A goes bust. He, well, wasn’t happy. Whereas most people’s bad beat stories will go “OK, so I have A-A and…†This guys bad beat story now starts with “Have you seen that a**hole in a kilt? You have! Listen to this. OK, so I have A-A and…†This was the second player at our table to bust.
Comments
ROFLMAO @ hand # 7! Runner runner straight LOL. Dave, from time to time, you are a lucky son of a gun, you know that?Â
That being said, great report so far, and I really like the way you're playing some of those hands, particularly #5 and #6 (the one with 86s). On to part 2.Â